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by Cefhclwords



Series: Parent Deledier [5]
Category: Men's Football RPF
Genre: Family, Family Fluff, Fluff, Kid Fic, M/M, Parent Deledier
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-14
Updated: 2019-10-14
Packaged: 2020-12-16 00:49:33
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,200
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21027530
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Cefhclwords/pseuds/Cefhclwords
Summary: A long day apart for Dele and Eric made better by family time (Written for Emma! @dancefaeries on tumblr!)Dele watched the three for a few more quiet seconds, let his eyes catalogue this moment, take in for himself his kids at this age, his handsome husband, how they looked right now, knowing the years of them being like this were fleeting. He blinked heavily and hushed away the thoughts of his babies growing older, for now, he’d focus on this afternoon, the rest of this night, on every minute he was blessed with them.Part of Dele wanted to leave them be, let them sleep a while longer, but he knew that the longer they slept now, the harder it would be to get the kids to bed, and for Eric to sleep later on. Besides, the way Eric's neck was bent couldn't be good for his back, and he knew the man would spend the rest of the week whining of it being stiff.





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**Author's Note:**

> Hope you enjoy this loves!!! I know it’s been a bit since I posted I’m still feeling a bit rusty with my writing so I really hope you don’t think this garbage and enjoy it! Please let me know what you think I value feedback so so much! Love you all enjoy x

When Dele decided maybe twelve photos was enough, he locked his phone and tucked it away safely into the front pocket of his hoodie.

He was pretty sure if eric ever discovered the folder on his phone named ‘E’ he wouldn’t hear the end of it. But really, how was he meant to stop himself from taking pictures of something so cute. He was starting to think that maybe Eric was doing it on purpose, making sure Dele stumbled upon him being sweet and gorgeous with their kids, to make him fall even more in love with him.

It wasn’t a shock that Eric is asleep, whilst it was early in the evening, the sun still on its way to being tucked in for the night, it had been a busy day for both of them. It was more the way Eric had fallen asleep that had Dele taking pictures. 

The couch in their living room was large, long and wide enough for Eric to sprawl out on comfortably, and that’s where he was now, on his back with a cushion half-tucked under his head. 

That, in of itself was really not too unusual of an image, the couch was warm and cosy and often their place of choice to crash out when they couldn't be bothered to make their way upstairs. With Hugh at the age of four, starting preschool and playing football and Harper just having hit nine months, starting to stand and crawling eagerly and babble out a handful of words, things were becoming more chaotic each day. The best kind of chaotic, but still chaotic. 

The couch, in turn, had become increasingly used for naps, for the kids, for them, the dogs even, sometimes all of them piled up together after particularly long days.

In that moment Eric made quite the image, sprawled out on his back, head hung back to rest on the arm of the couch. His head was tilted at such an angle that emphasised the bulge of his Adam's apple, the light scruff that covered his cheeks and jaw and trailed down his neck. He was the amount of scruffy that Dele loved, long enough that it was no longer sharp and scratchy, instead a soft prickle against his skin when they kissed. 

He was in a plain white t-shirt, one that went a little sheer in the way it stretched over the width of Eric’s chest, and a smarter looking pair of well-fitting black sweats, the shirt tucked in, to make the casual outfit look dressier than it was. Dele was pretty sure with how handsome Eric was, he could take Hugh to his football game in his pyjamas and he wouldn't seem out of place. 

Most notably though, Eric had their navy blue Baby Bjorn strapped to his chest, Harper strapped into it front-facing, with her head resting on Eric's chest as she also slept soundly. Her bright blond hair was in two teeny ponytails on top of her head, secured by mismatched coloured hair ties, and she sucked on her pacifier contently. One of Eric’s hand was resting securely on her back over the top of the fabric of the Baby Bjorn, the occasional wiggle of Harper’s legs caused Eric’s hand move with her, holding tighter even in his sleep. 

She looked tiny under the width of Eric’s hand, and Dele’s cheeks hurt with the force of his smile. The pair of them like that alone, was enough to make Dele’s chest ache with love after a long day of interviews and press work and brand deals. 

What really toppled him over to the point of a maybe a few tears was Hugh tucked into Eric’s side. Dele hadn’t noticed him at first, only spotting his youngest strapped up to Eric’s chest, Hugh concealed by the arm of the couch as he walked in. As he got closer he’d noticed the mess of curls on Eric’s bicep, Hugh’s head resting against Eric’s side, with his arm wrapped around their son to keep him safely tucked in on the couch. 

Dele had to stifle a small laugh when he noticed the boy was still in his football gear from his game that morning, shin pads and all, only his boots missing. Hugh had a tiny hand fisted in Eric's shirt with the soft toy rabbit he’d taken everywhere with him since he got it from Eric’s brother on his first birthday held tight to his chest. 

Dele had always been emotional, but ever since becoming a father he felt like he’d become extra soft, maybe too quick to tears over certain things. However, he would defend getting teary-eyed over this, having his whole family tangled up together being the first thing he came home to after a massive day. Ever since his very first match with Tottenham, Dele had felt like pinching himself every morning, felt like he’d stumbled into a life too good for him, one intended for someone else maybe, someone blessed with fortune from the day they were born. 

But god, now, now he had a family with his soulmate, the man that was his perfect fit, that he adored more than he knew he could. He had these two little humans that were theirs, that loved him unconditionally, were sweet and funny and growing up right in front of his eyes. Dele was doing right by them, he was still learning everyday but they were good kids, he and Eric were great parents. It still felt like a dream that this was his reality. 

Dele watched the three for a few more quiet seconds, let his eyes catalogue this moment, take in for himself his kids at this age, his handsome husband, how they looked right now, knowing the years of them being like this were fleeting. He blinked heavily and hushed away the thoughts of his babies growing older, for now, he’d focus on this afternoon, the rest of this night, on every minute he was blessed with them. 

Part of Dele wanted to leave them be, let them sleep a while longer, but he knew that the longer they slept now, the harder it would be to get the kids to bed, and for Eric to sleep later on. Besides, the way Eric's neck was bent couldn't be good for his back, and he knew the man would spend the rest of the week whining of it being stiff. 

Besides, Dele kind of wanted to understand how Eric fell asleep with Harper still in the Baby Bjorn. 

Dele stepped closer to Eric, crouched down slightly and gently laid a hand on Eric’s shoulder, gave a firm squeeze and whispered a soft “babe” Dele mumbled lightly, gave another squeeze of his hand when Eric didn’t even stir slightly. 

“Amor, come on, time to wake up” Dele crooned, moved his hand to fit on Eric’s cheek, thumb rubbing back and forth as he watched Eric’s eyes flutter, fighting to wake up. 

“Amor, amor, amor” Dele muttered as he leant over Eric to pepper kisses along his cheeks and nose. He smiled into his skin when he felt Eric let out a heavy sigh. 

“That’s it, hi my love” Dele breathed, slid his hand up Eric’s cheek to his hair and scratched through the length of it gently, pressed three more kisses to Eric’s temple before he pulled back to look down at him. 

Eric rumbled out a groan and rolled his head to the side, his lashes fluttered fast in quick blinks before his eyes finally opened, bright blue gazing back at Dele suddenly. “Hi handsome” Dele smirked, ran his fingers through Eric’s hair and watched the man lick his lips, eyes darting sleepily. 

“Baby?” Eric grumbled, looking at Dele with a dazed expression, still foggy with sleep.

“Hey sleepyhead, s’just me, I just got home” Dele explained, smiled when Eric tilted his head up into the petting of Dele’s hand, let out a wide yawn, face scrunching up with it. 

“What time’s it?” Eric asked and looked down, eyebrows raised as he took in the sleeping Harper strapped to his chest. “Oh” he muttered, looking from his daughter to Hugh curled up into his side. 

“Yeah, having a slumber party hmm?” Dele asked, and Eric let out a sleepy laugh, a shaky huff of breath.

“Was um, um...” Eric trailed off in another yawn, blinked twice quickly before his eyes seemingly properly settled on Dele and he reached up to touch Dele’s cheek lightly, hands warm with the body heat from sleep. “You look nice baby” he smiled, slid his hand to reach for Dele’s earlobe, and tugged on the simple silver cross earring that was dangling there. 

Dele smiled and turned his head to kiss Eric’s palm, ruffled his hand on Eric’s head “oh yeah” Eric said after a moment with a slow blink and cuddled the kids closer. “Yeah no I just sat down with them for a minute and um..” Eric yawned again, stretched his head back and moved to sit up slightly. 

Dele nodded and moved his other hand to pet over the back of Harper’s head, “needed a bit of a sleep huh?” he whispered, dragged the pad his thumb down the bridge of Eric’s nose, before he reached to the straps of the baby carrier, gently unclipping them. 

“Must of” Eric agreed with a small nod, eyes closed in a lazy half blink before he focused his eyes on Dele again. “shit, sorry Del I know you’ve been working all day too, I wanted to have the kids bathed and ready for dinner before you got home” Eric mumbled, brow creased in worry, moving to sit up suddenly. 

“Hey, hey relax, it’s alright, doing the sports run and taking care of Harps is exhausting” Dele spoke softly, kissed the top of Eric’s head and reached down to scoop sleeping Hugh up into his arms, cradled him carefully with a hand on the back of his head. 

“We can take them for a bath now yeah? With both of us, it’ll be faster and easier, besides I missed the lil monkeys and you” Dele spoke softly as Eric sleepily moved to completely unclip the Baby Bjorn and slid it down a bit, carefully picked up Harper out of it and placed her on his chest as he let the carrier fall to the floor. 

Eric sat up slowly, holding Harper as he sat up “Yeah, sounds like a plan and we missed you too” he patted her back gently as he sleepily looked up at Dele and Hugh, a tired smile on his lips. 

“H couldn’t wait to tell you about his game, said he had to tell dad all about it” Eric beamed, just as Dele felt Hugh wiggle in his arms, and he heard a soft “dad?”. 

“Hey buddy” Dele beamed, looked at Hugh as the waking boy pulled back to look at Dele with a huge grin on his face. 

“Hey daddy!! You’re home from work” Hugh said happily, tired eyes bright with joy. Dele’s heart warmed and he pressed a kiss to his son’s head, bounced him in his arms. 

“Yeah mate, I’m sorry I couldn’t see you play!! But dad tells me you had a great game” Dele smiled and ran his hand through Hugh’s messy curls.

“Best game!! We won dad” Hugh babbled excitedly, reached up to tangle a hand in Dele’s necklace, pulled on it as he spoke. 

“Well done mate, did you have fun?” Dele asked, watched out the corner of his eye as Eric stood with Harper, the sleeping baby curled up to Eric’s chest with her face tucked into his neck. 

“Mmhmm” Hugh nodded enthusiastically before he let out a long yawn. 

“Dada” Harper mumbled, her sleepy soft little voice striking a chord in Dele’s chest, making him go warm. 

His girl. 

Even just a day away and he missed his little ones so deeply, ached to see them, talk to him, hear their voices and laughs, sees their happy smiles, they really had become his whole world. 

“Hey angel” Dele beamed and reached out to scoop up Harper as she held out her chubby little arms and made grabby hands for him. Dele carefully tucked her into his arm, both of his kids now happily resting on his chest. 

Harper was quick to lay her head on Dele’s shoulder, still half asleep, but happy to see her dad, her tiny fingers tugging at the strings of his hoodie. Dele cuddled them in tighter, closed his eyes for a moment and took a deep breath in, happy to finally be with his kids again. 

His eyes stayed closed as Eric’s arms wrap around his waist and he easily coaxed Dele him into his arms. Dele sighed and let Eric bundle them all into his hold, Hugh starting to tell Dele about his game, voice light with excitement. 

“Must be tired” Eric whispered into Dele’s ear when there was a small break in Hugh’s story, his fingers beginning to massage at the low of Dele’s back, right where an aching knot had formed throughout the day. 

As much as Dele was confident and outgoing, loved to meet new people, he was an introvert at heart and a day of interviews and sponsorship photoshoots was always draining for him. There was nothing he loved more than being home with his family, Eric and his kids, where he could just relax and be himself. 

“Yeah” Dele agreed softly, turned his chin to kiss the side of Eric’s face and then the top of Harper’s head, hugged Hugh closer to his side. 

“Really did miss you guys today” Dele whispered, took a few more moments to enjoy the feeling of being in Eric’s arms before he pulled back and turned to Hugh. 

“Alright my little champion, You need a proper bath, and so does your sister! I have two smelly bubs!!” Dele exclaimed with a gasp, which made Hugh laugh. Harper let out a cheer when she heard the word bath, replying with her own babbled version of ‘bath time’, blue eyes light with happiness. 

She adored bath time, Dele and Eric weren't too sure why, really, but she just seemed to love being in the water, they’d gotten her into swimming lessons as fast as they could, and she’d adored it, all smiles and giggles as she got to splash around. 

“That’s right bub, bath time! You’re so clever” Dele beamed at his daughter leant down to press a kiss to both of her cheeks, her little hands gripping as his face as he did. 

“But dad I wanna show you the videos dad took on his phone of the game!!” Hugh whined and Eric was quick to scoop his son out of Dele’s arms, held him up above his head before he tucked him onto his side. 

“I know you do buddy but how about we have a quick wash and then we can show dad all the videos and photos while we make dinner yeah?” Eric suggested. Hugh pouted for a moment longer, pulling puppy dog eyes at his dad before he seemed to accept bath time had to happen and nodded.

“Okay, bath and then we can show dad!” Hugh agrees before quickly squirming in a silent request to be set down. Eric laughed and set Hugh down gently who sat down and tugged off his socks, held them tight his hand before he took off running for the stairs, taking off eagerly to the upstairs bathroom.

“That kid has your energy my god” Eric laughed be he followed their son up the stairs, knowing that leaving Hugh alone for even a few minutes was a recipe for disaster, that kid had a special talent for mischief. 

“I think if we let Hugh he probably would have talked about that game for the rest of the night” Dele yawned i to the back of his hand as he rolled over onto his stomach. He nudged Eric’s arm with his head till he moved and Dele could let his head fall to rest on Eric’s bare chest, his arm laid over his waist, fingers holding tight to his hip. Eric laughed and curled his arm around Dele’s back, fingers petting lazily over Dele’s shoulder blade as he tugged him in closer. 

“That kid can talk for all of us and then some” Eric agreed, eyes locked to his phone as he texted his brother about taking care of the kids next week on date night. He tucked his hand under the fabric of Dele’s shirt and dug his knuckles lazily against the line of Dele’s spine, rubbing back and forth. 

“You just wait till he is a teenager, and he haaaates us and doesn’t want to talk to anyone, then you’ll miss it” Eric added with a smirk before he locked his phone rested it on the nightstand. He shuffled down on the mattress then, his full attention on Dele now as he He wrapped both arms around him and pulled him up further onto his chest with a kiss to Dele’s forehead. 

Dele whined and smushed his hand against Eric’s cheek, shook his head and pressed his fingers over Erics mouth. “Nope nope nope” we are not talking about any teens, no not yet my heart cannot take that” Dele whined, and Eric smirked against the boys fingertips before he wiggled his chin free and and leant down to kiss Dele softly, a tired but sweet drag of lips. 

“You worry too much, don’t stress Delboy, tomorrow we will wake up at six am, to our crying nine month old, and Hugh who will definitely insist on you taking him and the dogs to the park, and Harper will want you to paint her nails again” Eric said softly with a grin cast across his lips, his hand cupping Dele’s face warmly, thumb rubbing under his eye gently. 

“Ugh why can’t he love sleeping in? And she should want me to paint her nails again, last time you did it, you got it all over her fingers!” Dele sighed. He was still in shock that of the few phrases in Harpers very limited vocabulary, ‘nail colour please’ was one of them thanks to the influence of Eric’s sisters. 

“Yeah, yeah, yeah Del, don’t get too excited” Eric huffed and reached out to flick off the bedside lamp before he laid back and tugged the covers up over Dele’s shoulders and settled back into the pillows with a yawn. 

“Alright Dier, don’t get bitter just cause your daughter recognises my talents” Dele retorted as he tucked his face into Eric’s neck, snuggling into him under their warm covers. 

“Alright baby, now shhh its sleep time” Eric whispered and pat Dele’s back from where his hand was resting. 

Dele just laughed, picked his head up to blindly seek out Eric’s mouth in the dark before he pressed a soft kiss to his lips and mumbled a small “love you” before he settled back into Eric’s chest, already sinking into his well needed sleep as he heard Eric whisper back “love you too”.


End file.
